Weekly Wrap-Up: The Big One

The week was full and busy with school starting again. The weather was usually warm for this time of year and Keren and I kick-started the week with a lovey walk on Monday morning. We also attended a free fit club session on Tuesday evening. A great work out that left my muscles sore for two days!

The kids had a great attitude about starting the second school term and Zak kept on track with his daily online assignments while Keren plowed through her work at a steady pace. Crochet group and art classes started again. 

Josh was home most of the week as he was sick. I too ended up getting rather sick and there was a trip to the doctor for antibiotics for me and a sick certificate for him. Despite the fact he was sick, it was rather nice to have him around the house again.

As infants we dedicated our children to the Lord, believing as parents that when they were ready to, and in the full knowledge of what baptism meant, they would have a believers baptism. 

Last Sunday Zak was baptized. We are so thankful that he chose to be baptized of his own accord and it was wonderful  to hear him give his testimony. Specially wonderful to hear him speak of the  sisterly love, input and influence that Keren has had over his life in helping him come to this decision. 

On Friday evening we attended the Chaeli Campaign annual graduation ceremony for Pay-It-Forward Ambassadors and Mentors for 2013-2014. Zak has been a mentor to the ambassadors over the last year and has grown and gained much from his experience.

2013-2014 Ambassadors and Mentors

Topics covered over the year were telling and appreciating his story; successful introductions; networking; his world - the global village; the world created by the media; the world he wants for his children; promotion of social development; volunteerism and promotion of Chaeli Campaign events; business plans, basic marketing and PR; growing his own project. 

Zak and Chaeli.

Last night Josh suited up for his girlfriend's matric dance.

 She looked beautiful in the dress her mum made for her. 

The glamorous girls and their partners were taken by bus to an unknown destination.

It turned out to be the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West. 

I think his hair may just be longer than hers!

And I think she was the only girl who was bare foot too!

They enjoyed a wonderful evening of dining and dancing.

I look forward to a short and quieter week this week, and the upcoming Easter long weekend. Especially good as my sister and her hubby will be visiting!

Slow Living Essentials Monthly 9 Link -Up: March 2014

March brought a noticeable change in the weather and our first good rains. 

We hurried to complete the term's work and are now enjoying the short school holiday. 

NOURISH: 

Our granadilla harvest has been good and delicious deserts as well as cordial were made. Our neighbor made some granadilla sorbet which we enjoyed on pancake day.  

Hubby made homemade pizza which he hasn't made in a while. 

The cooler weather has meant nourishing soups are back on the menu. 

Omelettes are always welcome meals any time of the day, and so cost effective. We have made delicious variants with home grown herbs and marinated peppers.

PREPARE: 

 Besides marinated peppers and granadilla cordial, I have made basil pesto and a batch of sweet chili jam. 

I have also discovered a local shop selling dry goods at much reduced prices. I have popped in there a few times and always manage to pick up good bargains on tinned and dry goods. 

REDUCE: 

Decluttering is an ongoing process and it's good to donate or recycle goods that are no longer used or needed. 

GREEN: 

We observed earth hour.

GROW: 

My red sunflowers have blossomed! 

I love the rich color!

This month I planted heirloom beetroot seeds, gemsquash seedlings, black basil and aubergine seedlings. 

Our harvest has consisted of chilies , peppadews, baby cabbages, carrots granadillas, tomatoes, herbs, peppers and red onions.

CREATE: 

My goodness, I began a new scarf for my daughter using circular needles. I found them very difficult to use and pulled it out, only to begin about three more times before I manged to get the pattern right on two needles.It is nowhere near finished but is looking good. 

My neighbor commissioned me to make mosaic numbers for her house. It is also an on going project. 

DISCOVER:

 Most of the reading has been school related this month.  

I have enjoyed the last of the magazine subscription my sister blessed me with. 

We learned much about Spain and California as we received two wonderful cultural exchange parcels. 

ENHANCE: 

My daughter began teaching a group of younger girls and two adults to crochet. They met weekly for the month and are all making good progress. I still need to learn the art of crochet. 

My younger son and I took part in a 4 km walk in aid of the Chaeli Campaign.

I have enjoyed clocking up kilometers with my walking club. 

Hubby and I continue to enjoy our church connect group and the teen group meets here weekly too.

ENJOY: 

Hubby and I enjoyed a rare evening out at a local food market to celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary.

I have taken part in three fun runs this month with my kiddos. 

Our neighbor hosted a pleasant neighborhood dinner as one of our neighbors is moving soon.

My dear sister surprised me with a visit for a week. We enjoyed wonderful family times with our dad, brother and aunt and uncle. Her visit was a blessing. 

Thanks Christine for the link up.

Weekly Wrap-Up: The one with an awesome surprise!

There is nothing boring about our days, full and bursting....

In our school this week we read Mathew and watched the Prince of Egypt. 

Essay assignments were written and fine tuned. New math concepts were taught and hopefully caught!

We learned about digestion and finished off an Afrikaans program. 

English and Religious studies were completed for the term (yay! 2 down and 4 to go). 

There was an all day art practical for Keren with Kasper Kobke at her art school.

There were two basketball games for Zak, one lost and one won. Morning walks in the rain for me and a 4 km fun Walk 4 Wheels in aid of the Chaeli Campaign for Zak and me.

As part of the Worldwide Culture Swap we received an  awesome parcel from California! 

Beautiful photos and wonderful descriptions of the life of the sending family were included. They sent us some of their favorite recipes, postcards, a flag, a map, loads of delicious candy, California poppy seeds, pencils, and vial of sand collected from a nearby beach. It really gave us a good sense of what their lives are like and we have learned much from this wonderful pack. We are grateful to the sending family!

We had visitors of the cute kind and made a tent under the duvet with loads of giggles and fun.

We got an awesome surprise when my sister arrived totally unannounced on Wednesday evening to stay for a few days!

We had an extra day off school as there was a public holiday so my sister and I went to spend a night with our Dad. The kiddos stayed home with hubby.
We got me meet the sweet 2 week old baby alpaca, Lyra.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and our brother and his little guy joined us for pizzas on Friday night. We missed our other sister...

Weekly Wrap-Up: a busy one

The week has been busy again and we are all beginning to look forward to the month end school holiday..

I managed to fit in two early morning walks this week and Keren and I enjoyed Curves just once. 

Zak practiced basketball and there was a mid week match too. Unfortunately their team didn't win. 

He also enjoyed his monthly technology class where he made a spatula.

 He and hubby will finish it off over the weekend.

Keren ran her craft class and taught the girls and two adults how to crochet. It will be a long term project and they will be making blankets out of patterned squares. 

The rainbow colours of balls of wool have inspired me and I am keen to learn how to crochet too.

I had to run around a fair bit lifting Josh to and from work. He did some of the driving and despite my trying to press invisible brakes on my side of the car, he is actually coming on well with his driving. 

Online school has taken a new turn for Zak as he has been enjoying his recent purchase of a tablet.

He is rather chuffed he can use it for his school work. We experienced some load shedding this week and that meant a couple of hours with no power during school . We used the time to read aloud and Zak continued making HOPE bracelets.

Keren has been working late into the evenings on deadlines for art essays and many hours have been spent on her last Mona Lisa painting. We look forward to seeing the end results of her diligence. 

There were parcels again this week, the last of Keren's books, religious studies, and Worldwide Culture Swap parcels that we sent out to four families overseas.
 It's always fun sending and receiving these parcels. 

We put a mix of goodies into the parcels, no two being alike. There were handcrafted felt elephants by Keren, Rooibos tea, animal stickers, coins, stamps, animal crafts, flags and postcards and DVDs depicting our beautiful city. 

Tonight the younger two are enjoying a relaxed pj evening at youth with hot chocolate and popcorn. Keren is master of ceremonies.

 Josh is at an all night stay awake for Cansa Relay For Life. He and a team of friends will be spending 12 hours walking or running along a track to raise funds for cancer research and education. 

Tomorrow morning it's up bright and early for me and Keren as we are doing a 5km fun run. I think I may just spend the rest of the day relaxing....

Weekly Wrap-Up: The one with a morning off

The weeks seem to fly by with so much keeping us busy.

People we've seen and places we've been...

Keren and I enjoyed Curves gym and did Zumba for the first time ever, we loved it! We managed to fit in a walk or two too. Zak attended basketball practices but there was no match this week.

Connect group happened on Tuesday night and it was lovely to learn more about the the ladies in the group. Wednesday night was a joint connect group at church. 

Keren's art class went to the Design Indaba Expo and she thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Zak is still working on clay in his art classes.

In our homeschool this week...

Keren has been tackling a subject per day in order to try and catch up and get on track. As she started school later in the term, her load is fairly heavy. 

Zak has been enjoying his online schooling and we started reading "The Cat of Bubates" as part of our Egyptian studies. While I read, he has been beading HOPE bracelets for the Chaeli Campaign. 

Keren has an order for 40 felt elephants, rabbits and owls so in between her studies she has been working furiously on making these. A great opportunity for her to earn extra pocket money. 

Our favorite thing this week was taking a morning off on Friday and going to the movies. We watched "The Perfect Wave", a beautiful movie with a salvation message and a wonderful soundtrack. 

Weekly Wrap-Up: The one with a cute visitor

This week has been a busy one and I sure am glad it is the weekend....

People we've seen and places we've been:

We had my almost 3 year old nephew here for a morning and he is an absolute delight. Keren managed to stay on track with her work while he was here but Zak spent a fair amount of time playing beautifully with him and swimming. Thankfully he could catch up later in the day.

My niece spent time here too, setting up a photo shoot for a project she needed to complete. And we were glad when she could stay for dinner .

Hubby and I visited a new connect group this week and the kids had their group here too. 

I got to see a dear friend as we enjoyed this month's Girlfriends Getaway at the movies. Always a fun evening with lots of treats and goodies and usually a great movie.

Keren and I made it to just one session of Walk for Life. We also joined Curves for a free month's trial. A lovely gym for ladies only. She got to train today but as I seem to be fighting a cold or flu, I only managed to try out the machines yesterday when we were being shown around. I look forward to our month there and getting back to walking next week too.

Keren enjoyed her Ballroom dance class and also did some babysitting this week. 

Zak practiced basketball this week but did not play the week's game.

 He attended a casting for Fanta and has another one tomorrow. 

It would be great if he got to feature in an ad!

Josh booked his driver's license and I look forward to the day he can pick up or drop off the kids!

In our homeschool this week: 

Keren started Consumer Studies and has been learning all about budgeting. A useful tool for a future homemaker. She also had to produce her first assignment for her portfolio and she wrote a great essay on a poem she had studied. Though the work load is heavy, she is enjoying her studies. 

She ran her first craft class of the year where she taught the girls to make jewelry boxes from old 2 liter coke bottles that have been decoupaged. They also made charm bracelets. It's great that she can earn some pocket money by running the classes.

I decided to research Easy Peasy all in one Homeschool and I like what I see. I started Zak on some of the math and language this week.

 He and I also enjoyed reading about Anne Frank and I think it was the first time he actually understood the tragedy and atrocity of war and the effects on humankind. 

During our read aloud time he has been making more HOPE bracelets for the Chaeli Campaign. 

Our favorite thing this week was the fact we could escape the heat and jump into the pool between lessons and before or after school! 

And then of course the younger two always look forward to Friday evening youth. 

Weekly Wrap-Up: The one with Shakespeare under the stars

This week's weather has been glorious....hubby and I have left footprints in the sand and enjoyed the warm waters of the ocean on more than one occasion.

The two of us also took part in market research on online shopping habits and were paid in Woolworths vouchers, a great blessing!

The high-lite of the week for the kids was our annual outing to Maynardville Park. Their cousin joined us and we enjoyed a picnic dinner and Shakespeare under the stars, the Tragedy of Richard 3rd. The show did not fail to disappoint and the setting was just magnificent.

In the kitchen this week, there was meatloaf, most delicious, with loads of fresh herbs from the garden. Zak was proud of his tasty meal!

Keren baked copious amounts of cupcakes. The first batch were for a local shop and when she took them in, they wanted just three testers so they could decide if they would like to purchase from her in future. She had loads leftover and decided to "love bomb" strangers in the post office by giving them cupcakes....they were most  grateful and surprised by her kindness. 

The mini pink cupcakes were baked for all the youth at last night's fun Valentines evening. There was dress up, a fashion show, competitions, dancing, a photo booth and an awesome time of fellowship.

As the kids were all out on Valentines, we did a special candlelit dinner as a family the night before. 

We enjoyed a fantastic meal thanks to our Woolworths vouchers.

In our home-school this week there has been some fun doing PE as part of Keren's life orientation course. More new books arrived which have made a big difference and we found some fun free sites for Zak to use. He has been brushing up on his touch typing with Typing Club and he has been doing Math and Language with MobyMax, a complete K-8 curriculum .He loves the online interactive learning.

We have read through the book of Esther and enjoyed a discussion around our reading with the young people that meet here on Wednesday evenings for connect group.

Zak is reading the 7th book in The Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle. 

Keren has been working on her final Mona Lisa on canvas.

 At art  Zak worked with clay again. He made it to one basketball practice this week and attended his monthly Chaeli Campaign meeting where he handed the last of the funds he raised for his project selling sprudels. The Chaeli Campaign was his chosen beneficiary. 

This morning he has gone to a work party for the Chaeli Campaign. They are making HOPE bracelets which will be sold to raise funds. 

All in all a great week! Hope yours was good too!

Mandela Day 2013

Yesterday as proud South Africans we honoured Mandela Day and our former President's 95th birthday!

This day is a global call to action, celebrating the idea that each of us has the power to make an impact and transform the world. Mandela fought for social justice for 67 years, and we are called to make a difference for 67 minutes on his behalf.

I was very excited to find out that Step Ahead Salon, owned by a friend, was offering 67 minutes of free haircuts in honour of this day. I have been needing a good cut for a while! 

Two friends and I were privileged to receive excellent haircuts and enjoy lots of happy chatter and laughter while enjoying our treat.

Before

&

After

We are all thrilled with our new look, thank you Step Ahead Salon!

Another customer who enjoyed the benefit of Step Ahead's generosity wanted to "pay forward" the cost of her haircut to a worthy cause. I was thankful to be of assistance to her, taking her generous donation and handing it over to the Chaeli Campaign in the afternoon.

The Blue Route Mall hosted the Chaeli Campaign for Mandela Day. Their goal was to wrap and pack as many Early Childhood Development school readiness boxes as possible, between 10h00 and 17h00.

On arrival, we discovered that they had run out of stationery and were waiting for more supplies.

 There were numerous beautiful brightly coloured boxes already wrapped and packed. But wasn't long before supplies arrived ,and we had fun getting stuck in and packing these boxes which will go a long way towards helping make some little people ready for "big school".

394 boxes were wrapped and packed in total yesterday.

It was a great honour to spend some time, making a difference, however small, in the lives of some of these precious little children.

Slow Living Month 4

I stand amazed that we are already at the end of month 4. A beautiful month of leaves turning to reds and yellows, then leaving a carpet of brown crispiness below and stark naked branches that reach into brilliant clear blue skies above....

beautiful weather this time of year in our part of the world.

NOURISH: 

Nourishing my family changed a lot over this month and food has been something I have not even wanted to think about on some days. The month began with hubby eliminating all forms of carbohydrates or starchy food in the hopes of gaining better blood sugar control. After seeing the specialist and dietitian it changed all over again...some evenings I have 3 books open and food being prepared right along all the kitchen counter tops. Dinner, tomorrows breakfast , snacks and lunch! I am slowly getting into the rhythm of this new way of prepping and measuring all that is eaten. 

We have been enjoying salads at lunch times and avocados are in season. I could eat them every day! I found a "green relish" recipe and have made this a few times over the month. I cube avo with cucumber and green apples, add some spring onions and a dash of lemon juice and chili. Voilà, a perfect lunch!

PREPARE: 

As we are back in the swing of the new school term, doubling up on dinner is always good for those days that are a little too crazy to think about dinner.

When we ran out of dog food I searched on-line for home made dog food recipes. I didn't stick to a particular recipe, but figured out what would be ok and what would not. I have made several large batches to last a few days at a time. Our doggy now enjoys a mix of home cooked and store bought food and it is great to know that he eats a good and varied diet. 

I tried a new hot garlic and chili sauce which is really hot but really good too! Great on a sandwich or added to the pot.

REDUCE: 

Not much here that is new, still recycling. 

GREEN: 

Nothing new.

GROW:

This month I planted marigolds, leeks, red cabbage, broccoli, peas, poppies, lettuce, onions.
The garden is very green at the moment with green chillies, peppers, leeks and lemons and more.

I harvested the very last beans, some tomatoes, granadillas, first sweet-peas, spinach, chillies, lettuce, herbs and peppedews.

I was given some Trinidad scorpion and yellow moruga chillies. Apparently these are some of the hottest varieties! I have saved the seeds and hope to grow my own.

My neighbour and I collected a bakkie load of mulch from a local school as they were giving it away and the garden has benefited from a good composting and a thick layer of mulch.

I have had these little cacti on my windowsill for months and eventually got to planting them out into the pot that once had pretty petunias in it. The stones had been collected by my sister and her family when they lived in a seaside village a good number of years ago. I am hoping they will do well in their new home on the sunny step outside my bedroom.

CREATE: 

I had enormous fun making a fishnet black scarf edged with silver strands . It forms a ruffle as one knits and though time consuming, the end result is feminine and will add to any winter outfit. My friend was thrilled with her birthday gift.

My youngest created a beautiful wooden plate holder at his technology class and my daughter held her monthly craft class. The girls made mother's day gifts so no telling yet :)

DISCOVER: 

Most of my reading and research has centred around diabetes this month. 

I am grateful for the magazine subscription my sister gifted me with...

A welcome relaxing read.

My youngest and I have been enjoying reading true tales of game rangers in the Kruger National Park.

We are focusing on anatomy and physiology during school and have been enjoying learning about our amazing bodies. Much of which I have forgotten since my long ago nursing days!

ENHANCE: 

Our youngest graduated from his year long service as a Chaeli Campaign Ambassador. It was wonderful to hear of all the work done by these youngsters over the last year. Each graduate spoke about what they had learned over the year as well as their individual fund raising events to benefit a charity of their choice.

The children and I have started a 90 day brain gym challenge. This programme offers a significant improvement in concentration, memory retention and recall and the ability to stay focused for long periods of time. It has been fun getting our brains fit and doing the challenging exercises.

My daughter and I attended a baristers course at the church where we learned how to make espresso based beverages. Great to learn something new, and in exchange we will each do a minimum of four shifts at the church coffee shop.

The younger two kids and I had the wonderful pleasure of visiting a young girl who was in hospital on her 13th birthday. She had been in hospital for 3 weeks already and far from home and friends on this special day. We surprised her with gifts, birthday cake and a balloon. It brought such pleasure to bless a stranger and hopefully brighten her day a little.

ENJOY:

The weather has been perfect, no wind and beautiful warm days.

 Beach walks have been enjoyed.

It was wonderful to see my cousin who was visiting from England and have a braai with extended family. 

My daughter and I visited her art school's market and tertiary expo for visual art and design students. We enjoyed browsing the market and the vibrant atmosphere.  

So many birthdays were celebrated with friends and family this month.

 I had the greatest time at our neighbour's 9th birthday party as the adults got a turn in the bubble balls too!

 Frightening yet hilarious at the same time!

(And yes, that is me, collapsed in the ball and laughing so much I could not get up!)

We celebrated my sweet nephew's second birthday. We  have been delighted with his speech that is coming on so beautifully and is so cute!

Such a joy to have him in our lives!

Thank you Christine for the great opportunity to link up and share again.